Got a little bloggy with the blah blah here, but so it goes.
Sounding very good so far. I completed the Neo-1 crossovers yesterday but still have the cabinets to build (within next 1-2 weeks hopefully). Until then they are in very large for them 38 liter floorstanders that I have used with 8" woofers. The cabs are well braced with 1.5" fronts, drivers are mounted on small baffles screwed onto baffle. Aperiodic scanvent at the bottom.
The subs are Rythmik 4 ohm sealed using the GRR paper cone driver.
I recently moved to a place where I can only set up on the long wall (~ 24') in a 12' wide room that has a 4' x 12' extension (where the couch resides) across from stereo/speakers. Have been into OB's for a few years but with only 3' max from front of speakers to rear wall ob's don't work for me here. I like at least 5' behind the baffles or the reflections overwhelm the music to me.
So I went on a search for some monitors with wide dispersion, even off axis response, and good transparency. I'm not an ob or nothing guy. I had and like the neo3pdr tweeters so decided to try Danny's new Neo-1's.
I've realized while using widerange drivers that the rising response creates an "exhileration factor" with the upper mid through treble being increased and brought forward. I don't always dislike this and with some drivers it sounds better (8" hemps), others it sounds strident.
Danny posted graphs showing flat response and great off axis response for all 3 Neo kits. And that evenness is what strikes me most. I expect this is what a neutral speaker sounds like. Am appreciating this, especially the even response as I walk around the room. Virtually no tracking or instrument fading or sweet spot-itis. No big bulge of spl's in the center then fading to phasiness to the sides. This type of dispersion reminds me of radial/upfiring speakers I've had to a large degree. All very natural and normal sounding rather than over emphasis on any part.
Before I got the xo done I had them running with a coil on M130's and cap and resistor on tweeters, this had that mid-treble forwardness and sweet spot, etc. Didn't sound "bad" but was nice to be able to hear the difference with the same drivers when the crossover was applied. A good crossover makes the speaker for sure.
These aren't clarity monsters, but with the even response characteristics background info comes through as it isn't covered up by exaggerated main instruments. I was surprised at this as it seemed subtleties would come through because clarity was increased, but instead it was because everything was put into perspective, or equalized by a lack of unnecessary emphasis. Now it's more about listening to the music than the speakers idiosyncracies.
I've had the sub awhile and it's done great service getting all the bass where ob's fade out. Plenty clean enough to keep up, and adjustable to avoid room problems. They sound great with Neo-1's, seems to have ~ same character "sound". I still have some dialing in to do after the Neo-1 cabs are done. Also I need to raise the sub up a few inches to tighten them up more, getting a little floor mud.
I've enjoyed trying different approaches to gear, have some more things to try over time. I think these make a very good standard for comparison. Tho now i don't see having much time for awhile to try anything else (tho have a Scanspeak 8542/9300 system and Hemp8's could get to).
I'll post again after the Neo-1 cabs are done and things are dialed in more. Have a little more room reflections to deal with - a little absorption and diffusers to set up.
Good job Danny.
Don
